


A Week's Worth of Science Bros (2018)

by SioDymph



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Cuddling & Snuggling, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Mentioned Peter Parker, Past Child Abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-23
Updated: 2018-07-31
Packaged: 2019-06-15 04:08:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 15,350
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15404631
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SioDymph/pseuds/SioDymph
Summary: Once again Science Bros week is back so here's 7 short prompts to go with the daily themes!





	1. Genius

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay Science Bros week is finally here! It’s honestly one of my favorite times of the year! I always love writing these two and seeing all the incredible work others make of them. To kick off my stories for this week here’s my take on the theme of “genius”

Genius… The word seemed to haunt him since his childhood…

For Tony Stark it was an expectation. No son of Howard Stark was going to be average. Let alone considered dumb. Howard Stark had changed the world, practically innovated on a daily basis. For his son to do any less seemed like a disgrace.

But it was also an unattainable goal. As a small boy, he’d try his hand at robotics for the first time after he over-heard his parents discussing his poor reading skills. And while his mother wanted to give him more time Howard Stark had sounded so disappointed. Three weeks afterwards he built his first computer. And while his mother, and Uncle Obie, and everyone else went to praise his hard work, all Howard Stark did was comment dryly that his craftsmanship was lacking and his circuit-work was shoddy.

And it continued on and on just like that. He’d complete a new project, and everyone but his father ever seemed happy at his work.

It was always like that. No matter what Tony tried it never seemed to be enough for his father. He’d always find some flaw in his work, even the smallest thing that would make everything Tony did unsatisfactory.

Eventually it dawned on him that he’d never be the son his father wanted. Never smart enough. Never brave or bold enough. Never good enough. After that point, somewhere in his early teens, he just stopped trying to please his father.

So what if Howard Stark wasn’t happy? Everyone else seemed to love him. Everyone else praised him. He was amazing! He was outstanding! He was going to change the world! He was a genius!

It was almost embarrassing how easily all that positive attention went to his head. He got into MIT while most kids were still struggling through algebra and calculus. He’d certainly ruffled some feathers doing that, showing up on campus years younger than any other student with a chip on his shoulder. But then again, he had an over-compensating amount of mathematic and engineering skills to show-off if anyone ever questioned why he should be there. 

And then it all seemed to fall apart. Somewhere after hearing the news of his parent’s deaths his drinking started going up significantly. He was a wreck. Emotionally and physically. Even with Obie micro-managing his career after that, he could still feel the weight of an entire international industry on his shoulders. And now being the fresh, rebellious, young face of Stark industry the only real completion he seemed to have was with himself.

The more he worked, the more he tried to innovate, the less happy he seemed to be with his own work. Everything had to be better, bigger, more powerful. He had to make a statement. He didn’t even care what, he just needed it. But by then he’d also gotten caught up in a never-ending cycle of trying to please people and then relishing in their praise, the whole time drinking and sleeping around to a hilariously extreme extent. It was honestly a miracle Rhodey and Pepper stuck to his side through all that, he was eternally grateful they had. Cause he frankly was an ass. He was obsessed with his work and his own image until it became a bubble blocking out reality.

But when he finally saw what the Five Rings were doing with his weapons that bubble popped…

After his time with Yinsen he knew he could never go back to the man he was. And while he still struggled with his ego at times, there was no way Tony could ever get trapped in that old bubble from his youth. He realized now that there was more than just an endless race of trying to please his father, or trying to keep the attention of anyone else for that matter. There were people that depended on him to do his job. Now there was a motive for his hard work. An idea behind his inventions that was bigger than himself, or the Stark family name, or even SHIELD.

There was a purpose to his genius.

Sure people questioned him in the beginning of the Iron Man project. Many people even called him an idiot for throwing his weapons business away. But personally, he’d take being an idiot in an iron suit any day over the so-called genius he used to be.

But honestly, nowadays most people did consider him a genius again. Even a good guy. He still had his fair share of flaws and mistakes, but now instead of throwing a fit and being stuck in the past he tried to think ahead. Use his talent and intellect to fix the problems he caused, find real solutions, stop anyone else who tried to repeat his past mistakes and move on… Or at least try to…

No matter what though, the word genius never seemed to leave him. Whether he was seen as a budding protégé, or an asshole who acted like he was better than everyone, or even most recently a hero who used his skills to save the day.

However whenever the word fell from Bruce Banner’s lips it never held malic, or a silent demand to be better, be more. It’s wasn’t even stated like a fact he couldn’t escape. It was just a simple compliment. No judgment. No expectations.

“Tony, this is incredible. You’re a genius!”

Bruce had a small smile on his face, and his eyes sparkled as they reflected the light from his most recent redesign for the arc reactor. A project the pair had actually done together. Tony had been thinking of redesigning his reactors for a while and in the beginning he actually asked Bruce for input. Eventually by then end both had almost equal roles in the newest design.

For the longest time, their relationship had felt imbalanced. While practically everyone on the planet knew Tony’s life story Bruce had kept his former life shrouded in mystery. As friends he’d kept his personal life to himself and even when they became a couple finding out about his past was like pulling teeth at times.

With time and a better-developed trust, Bruce eventually began opening up to Tony piece by piece. One thing that was curious to Tony was seeing how the word “genius” seemed to effect Bruce’s life too.

For Bruce, being a genius seemed to be one-part a prison but two-parts an escape as well.

Without going into many words, Bruce’s home life growing up wasn’t the best. It was terrible actually.

Sometimes it would make Tony guilty for ever being mad at his own parents when Bruce had to go through so much. But Bruce would always say in that sage but wistful tone that “everyone has different experiences and pain can’t be compared.” And as usual Tony would question why out of all the PhDs Bruce had not a single one was for philosophy or therapy.

Regardless though, somehow Bruce made it and eventually escaped his home life with an acceptance letter and generous scholarship. And after that he never tried to look back. Though his experiences inevitably stayed somewhere, trapped in the back of his mind.

For a while he was happy in the world of scholars. Studying, writing ground-breaking papers, conducting revolutionary experiments. He made a good name for himself in the scientific community. Everyone he knew respected him. He was considered one of the brightest in his field. The kind of person who would go down in history. A genius.

But he never seemed able to emotionally connect with others. Never growing close enough to consider his colleagues as friends. Between his own awkwardness in social situations as well as what he considered an inability to be more open around people for fear of rejection or worse… He just kept to himself mostly unless someone actively sought him out, usually to talk about scientific investigations or ask for his input. That was for the exception of a few friends he held dear in his heart like Betty.

And while he always had hopes of getting his act together, committing to someone special and having a family it was never something he actively searched for. He simply kept it as a nice dream in the back of his head. And instead he’d try to rationalize that he didn’t have time for a family just yet. He had important things to do, he had a huge job that he couldn’t be distracted from, he was a genius after all. But even if he was quiet he felt content with his career and his life as a whole.

Then the accident happened. And all those negative emotions he thought he’d hidden in the darkest corner of his mind manifested in a giant, green monster.

In a moment’s impulse, any trigger that was just enough to break his stress threshold, Bruce would lose all politeness, all decency, all genius and transform into something he perceived as truly terrible. He was being betrayed by his own body and mind.

He’d been desperate for a cure early on. But not even his most in-depth concentration was able to stop the Hulk or his rampages. It was unstoppable. It was unending. And as much as he loathed to think of it, it was his own mind.

With time however, and with more patience than he ever thought possible, Bruce was beginning to understand this Hyde to his Jekyll. With Tony’s assistance they were now was able to track his rapid muscle growth and relapse, slowly beginning to figure out how his strange transformation was even physically possible. Sometimes he even thought he was beginning to control himself... That was until the Hulk had another unexpected meltdown and he fell back to square one. But at least he was now able to see the footage of himself after he transformed. Able to truly see his other half in action. Carefully observing his reactions to stimuli. He even began to see pieces of his younger self in the Hulk, as well as other people he’d rather not think about.

And not just an external understanding but an internal one as well. He’d had been keeping a careful watch on his mind when possible as he transformed. After realizing that the hulk was manifesting his own insecurities he attempted to reach out more to this other side of his mind he hated and feared so much.

It was slow progress, with more relapses then he’d like to think about. But thanks to his own discoveries and the kindness of others Bruce was beginning to find himself. For the first time in years.

Bruce had come so far and done so much it truly inspired Tony and made him feel nothing but awe for the man he loved.

So likewise, when the word came from Tony’s own mouth it was something earnest, sincere, kinder. In a tone only shared with those he truly cared for and admired.

“No way, you are truly the smartest man I’ve ever known. You’re the real genius here…”


	2. Raw

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! Personally I’m really excited for Day 2! (Even if my prompt interpretation is a bit of a stretch this time lol) 
> 
> I decided to use today’s theme as a sequel for a prompt I made last year, “Pierce”. In that story, Bruce and Tony accidentally end up in an alternate universe where society fell-apart from war and radiation. But the Hulk survived and built a kingdom that he controls with an iron fist, calling himself “The Emperor”. Despite their best efforts to aid a rebellion, Tony is almost killed, Bruce hulks-out and both are captured.

As Tony’s eyes opened sluggishly, he realized he couldn’t remember falling asleep. The last thing he could recall was Bruce and himself being captured. The rebel’s attack had failed. And Bruce… This older, crueler, tyrannical version of the Hulk had done something horrible to the man he loved. Tony could only watch as the Hulk desperately tried to revert back to Bruce only to fail every time.

Oh god, where was Bruce now?

Tony looked around the room, dread slowly building in his guts, and realized he had been left completely alone. But instead of being thrown into a prison cell like he’d expected it seemed like he had been placed in a lavish bedroom. The walls were all a bright electric blue with bold accents of purple and gold. And he was lying in a bed with golden sheets that felt ridiculously soft to the touch, the kind Tony might have used back in his playboy days to show-off his money and status to his lovers. But it did nothing to comfort him now.

For a brief moment Tony wondered if this was Emperor Hulk’s way of trying to apologize for kidnapping him, hurting Bruce, and you know, trying to crush him earlier in the battle. But he quickly threw-out that idea. Emperor Hulk hardly seemed like the regretful-type seeing how he was ready to destroy anything in his path with a scary amount of precision and tactic. The kind of thinking that was far more like Banner than anything Tony had seen the Incredible Hulk do in his own world.

More likely, Tony was being bribed right now. Like this was Emperor Hulk’s way of saying “be compliant and you will be taken care of”. The Emperor probably wanted information of the rebellion, their bases, their leaders, communication, access to weapons, that sort of war-junk.

Tony really, really hated to think of what the Emperor would do once he refuses to talk…

He tried not to think of it as he got out of the bed. And as he pulled back the covers it finally dawned on him that he was in pale blue pajamas now. His suit, even his clothes underneath, everything had been completely stripped of him. Last he knew whatever electronic blast Emperor Hulk used on him had completely fried the iron man, and after that the Emperor’s soldiers pried his suit apart like a lobster shell. He at least hoped they’d brought his suit with them to wherever the hell they were now. But there was also a likely chance that it had just been left in the street to be picked apart by those desperate townspeople.

It boiled his blood but he tried to be rational. It was going to be ok. Even if he couldn’t find the Mark XVI, or if he found it and couldn’t repair it, he could always find something else, build something else to help get him and Bruce out of this mess. It was going to be ok. He could still do this.

Still, he felt naked without any of his armor or even his original clothes. That along with the bruises he could see blossoming across his torso when he lifted his shirt made him feel picked apart and raw.

Pulling his shirt a little tighter around himself, he started investigating the room. Despite there being a few tables and counters everything was oddly bare. And he could see an outline of a door on the far side on the room but whatever technology Emperor Hulk had access to left it sealed shut from the inside.

So this was a cell. Albeit, a much less drab one than Tony might have expected. But a gilded cage was still a cage.

He was about to look through some draws for anything useful when the door glowed before sliding apart with an automated chime. And someone he just knew had to be an asshole stepped through into the room. He looked down at Tony with a sneer despite being the one wearing a stupid-looking bright orange robe.

“Good afternoon, _guest_. I hope our accommodations were to your liking.” The way he said guest with such resentment made Tony want to roll his eyes. Almost like he wanted to call him “prisoner” or “rebel scum” or something like that.

“Not really Captain Citrus, no.” Tony said, deciding it was safe to be snarky with a guy like this. “Where the hell did you people take Bruce?”

The Orange guy just ruffled his capes with a scowl and gestured to the door. “I have no idea who that is nor care. Regardless, you have been ordered to make an appearance before our gracious and powerful Emperor.”

“Really? I don’t get time to change?”

“No. Let’s get this over with.” He huffed, gesturing again to the door. Sighing, Tony complied, but just as he passed through the threshold, the Orange guy leaned in and whispered. “If it were up to me, your tongue would be cut out for your insults just now, and the rest of you would be frying down in the interrogation chambers for your treasonous crimes.”

Tony just rolled his eyes. He’d heard worse threats and honestly he was already sick of this place. “Well, good thing it’s not up to you. Where do you plan on taking me anyway?”

“To speak with your rightful leader and high-king. Now come along, he’s been waiting for you.”

Without much choice, Tony followed the man barefoot as they made their way down the hall. Near the end he saw two soldiers waiting for them. Tony hadn’t paid that much attention to the soldier earlier in that failed attack, but as he looked at them now he couldn’t help but feel something was off about them. This pair didn’t have any face masks on, and appeared to be two women with their hair braided back in Norse braids and silver lines were painted onto their faces along their foreheads and cheeks. They both held glowing blue staffs and regarded Tony with less disdain than the Orange guy, more curiosity if anything.

They all traveled silently throughout the palace. Tony tried to keep track but it was hard when he didn’t even know the relation between his room and the rest of this colossal palace. If Tony had one word for the whole place it was weird. Weird color choices, weird architecture, everything just seemed off and wrong and just so weird. And the people were the weirdest things of all.

They passed more groups of soldiers. All adorned in the same silver war-paint and braids. They also passed groups of woman and men with fiery red hair and black skin-tight uniforms and Tony didn’t have to guess who they were inspired by. But by far the most unnerving was when they passed by a group of men and woman in red uniforms. All the woman had the same perm while the men all shared his exact facial hair and haircut…

They finally came to a stop in the middle of one of the many high-domed hallways, in front of a large emerald door. As the door slowly parted they revealed purple curtains that blocked out the room and left Tony tensely wondering what lay behind.

“Wait here. I will announce your arrival to the Almighty Emperor and then you may come in once he allows it.” The Orange guy replied curtly before spinning on his heels and stepping past the curtains into what Tony could only guess might be the throne room. Seemed like the kind of thing an Emperor would use for terrifying people into submission.

But at least for now he was away from that jerk. He was just about to think of escape strategies when one of the soldiers spoke up for the first time. “So what could an engineer like yourself have possibly done to get such treatment?” She asked quietly.

“I dunno. Built something I shouldn’t have?”

“I’ve never heard of the Emperor doing anything like this before.” The other soldier whispered. “In all my years here at the palace he’s never treated anyone like this, much less a rebel who tried to attack him. Do you have any idea what your about to get into?”

He wasn’t given any more time to think on it though because Orange guy was back already and he was forced into the room alone.

It was absolutely not what he was expecting. For starters it wasn’t a throne room, rather some sort of library? It was probably more accurate to say a museum with all the books and old relics being locked away in glass cases. But a museum didn’t seem like the right descriptor either, especially since everything on display wasn’t the real focus to the room. Rather it was the plush chairs near the center. One of which, which was also significantly bigger than any other chair, was taken by the ancient-looking Incredible Hulk. The idea itself was still fucking hilarious to him, seeing the Hulk so wrinkly and with a big white-wizard beard, but he kept himself in check this time and didn’t laugh. He only knew a fraction of what this guy was capable of.

As soon as he stepped into the weird room those electric green eyes bore into him, but the Emperor’s face almost seemed happy.

“Ah Tony, I was wondering when you’d arrive. Come in, make yourself comfortable.”

Unsure, Tony walked into the room and closer towards the creature who only hours ago had threatened to crush him in his bare hands. Now he was acting all calm and welcoming. It was creeping Tony out, and despite wanting to be as far from the Emperor as he could, Tony chose the seat right next to him. Which seemed to make the Hulk even happier.

“I know you must have a lot of questions about your current circumstances. I know I certainly do.” The Hulk said, still keeping this weird-pleasant tone as if they were old friends. “But first order of the day, would you like any refreshments? I can have the staff in my kitchens prepare anything you like. Food, drink, anything at all?”

So he was still playing nice. Tony just shrugged. “I’m fine.”

The Emperor frowned at that but kept up the nice-guy act. “Are you sure? I know you can have a certain tastes for alcohol. I don’t enjoy it, but my people certainly do, they have their own brewery here.”

“I think I’ll pass.” Tony had a feeling things would go south fast if he said no, but he really didn’t want to risk getting drugged or poisoned or worse.

“I see you want to get right to business? Very well.” The Emperor said with a sigh.

“I _want_ to know what you’ve done with Bruce!” Tony demanded first and foremost. He hasn’t seen a single sign of Bruce or the Hulk since he got here and he couldn’t stand it.

“Don’t worry, he’s fine. I just got done talking to him actually. You can visit him down the hall if you like, after we’re done talking of course.”

Tony didn’t know what the hell this Hulk was playing at. Where was the big scary baddie who was ready to mow down rebels? Who threaten everyone into submission? Who was able to beat down the younger version of himself like it was nothing?

The Emperor seemed to read him like a book and Tony really hated it as the giant kept talking. “Relax. There’s no traps here. No tricks. I’m not even mad, not really. I’m just confused.”

“You’re the one who’s confused?” Tony asked incredulously.

“Yes. My spies had heard rumors of an event out in the dead zone. An Asgardian teleportation beam. And low and behold, who could ever guess that you and that immature beast would come to my world?”

Tony frowned up as his captor. No doubt he was trying to lead into getting answers from Tony. He did his best to side-track. “Huh, am I detecting a hint of self-loathing there, bud? Cause last time I checked, that guy was you.”

The old Hulk shook his head. “That may be true but there are many differences between the two of us. He is untrained, has no discipline or control. And he’s still trapped in denial as well as a child-like persona.”

“Wow, judgmental much?”

“Only because I know I can help him be better. I can help him see the truth, grow, become something worthy of being called ‘incredible’.” The Emperor said, the tone of his voice gave Tony chills. “And I can do the same for you, Tony. I can make sure you’re truly an invincible Iron Man as well.”

“And what do you mean by that?” While the idea of being better sounded nice in theory, current context made it sound threatening. And the way he brought up invincibility made Tony wonder the worst. “What the hell even happened to the world?”

“Your worst fears.”

The Old Hulk looked down at him, for once actually looking sad. “There was nothing else you could have possibly done. If it makes you feel better, you died quickly. You were in the blast radius when it happened. Gone in almost an instant. You didn’t suffer… like the others.”

“Radiation poisoning?”

Hulk just nodded. Tony knew everything Bruce had shared him about his abilities. How radiation only seemed to make the other guy stronger. Jesus, how strong did that make the Emperor then? “Did anyone else from the team make it?”

“I saved who I could, and built this city as sanctuary for all the survivors and their children. A place where they could no longer suffer.”

“No offence but I’ve talked to some people, and you’re really failing on the whole ‘no-suffering’ part. I saw it all myself. People are struggling plenty out there!” Tony said. Might as well be honest, even if Not-so-Jolly Green here was in denial. “And there’s no history, are people even educated here? I thought you valued knowledge!”

“I knew you would be empathetic to the rebel’s plight. But they are misguided.” The Emperor stated plainly.

“I think they have a point.” Tony argued back.

“Of course they have a point! But have they given it any thought what to do if they ever did defeat me? Have they truly planned out what happens next?” He looked down at Tony questioning. But Tony remained silent. “If they even get a shred of victory they’ll see my crown and turn against each other, like all rebellions do. They’ll have a fruitless power struggle, and in the end they’ll be no better than then enemy they think I am. Because if I’ve seen one thing in all my life Tony Stark, is that power corrupts those too weak to wield it.”

Tony glared at The Emperor. He could see Bruce in his face. The way he talked with his hands, the natural dips and inflections in his voice, the way he gazed down at him, even the logic he was using sounded painfully similar. It was undeniable that this man had once been exactly like the Bruce Banner he knew. And despite being angry he realized Tony didn’t truly hate him which was the worst feeling of all.

“So what are you planning to do about it? Are you gonna kill them? Most of the people fighting out there are kids, you know.” Tony asked tensely.

“I was actually going to ask you about that.”

That caught Tony off-guard. Did he seriously want him to betray all those he people just because he was Bruce? “Excuse me?”

“Think about it, neither of us are idiots. I know many of the people fear and despise me. And I can admit that in the past I may not have been as compassionate as I was when I first built this city… But you’re not like them, you’re not even like me. You haven’t been destroyed by the world. Beaten down and rubbed raw. And they like you, they’re fascinated by you. Someone brave enough to publicly defy me. Someone who can be almost optimistic in the face of danger.”

“So what? What do you even expect me to do here?” Tony asked, losing his patience. He really didn’t like how the Emperor talked about him. “It sounds like you want me to take an army and topple everything you’ve built?”

“You won’t do that.”

“Why not?” Tony tested.

The Emperor gave him a look that seemed to bore right into him. “I know you’re someone I can trust. You have good ideas, good planning, good strategy. And I know you Tony. I know how much you care. You’ve only been here a few days and you’re already inspired to make my kingdom better, I can tell. And that’s what I’m asking you to do. I don’t want you to be a face for rebellion. Rather a face for change, helping whats left of humanity into the next age. Finding a solution and bringing both progress and peace to my kingdom.”

They were nice words, but his plan didn’t make any sense. “So what? If you know what’s wrong then why not fix it yourself? Why did you let things get this bad in the first place?”

“I’ve fixed and re-fixed this place for ages now. I want to see what someone else can do. Specifically you Tony. And I know you could do something wonderful here if you were just given the chance.”

It sounded so ideal when he put it like that. But at the end of the day that meant the Emperor would still be the Emperor, and on top of that it sounded like he wasn’t going to let them leave…

“Why are you offering me this? Why are you doing any of this?”

A green hand came towards Tony’s head. For one horrifying moment Tony thought the Emperor was about to snatch him up again and squeeze him to death. But he quickly realized his fingers hadn’t moved from the side of his face.

“I think you can guess my motivation, Tony Stark. I’m not that complicated of a man. You were one of only a few people I held dear in my life and I missed you terribly after you passed. But now you’re here. And I can’t wait to see what you’ll do next.”

“Nice words coming from the man who tried to kill me for an example.” Tony said with a pointed look.

But the Hulk just laughed and kept looking at him fondly. “That was only to rile up your partner. And he caved just as I expected.”

Finally, the hand pulled away and the Emperor stepped back. “Well, I think that’s enough for now. You may go visit the Prince if you like.”

“What?!” Despite the situation, Tony couldn’t ignore the ridiculous name. Prince? He could already imagine Bruce wearing a crown, or better yet, Hulk trying to wear a tiny little tiara. “Seriously? You’re calling him the Prince?”

“I thought it was a fitting title. Someone currently unprepared, nor immediately needed. But with time may be presentable for ruling.”

And just like that the creepy, unsettled, sci-fi-nightmare feeling came to Tony. The Emperor sounded so certain neither of them would be able to leave. He couldn’t leave that room fast enough. But as he pulled back the curtains and opened the door, the Emperor’s voice drifted over to him.

“I know you’re upset but try to think about what I am offering you Tony.”

Tony decided not to answer and let the door slam shut heavily behind him. But as he walked away with the same two guards from before trailing his sides he found himself thinking over everything the Emperor told him. And he could shake the feeling he was still being watched.


	3. Heat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alrighty day 3 is already upon us! And I had a lot of fun with this prompt. I decided to take a wintry-approach with the theme of the day. Hope you folks enjoy!

Whenever Bruce turned back it was always an uncomfortable experience. Waking up in strange places, usually with tattered clothes if not completely naked, and exhausted while only being able to vaguely recall what the hell the Hulk had done before… Tony had teased him once saying that Hulk also had the power of sugar-crashes and hangovers.

Today’s incident proved to be on slightly different. Feeling like he’d been hit by a bulldozer, Bruce forced his eyes open and found himself staring at a grey sky and bare trees. And while his mind sluggishly tried to remember what happened one fact was impossible to ignore. That the Avengers had been dispatched to Alaska and instead of leaving him near the quinjet, Hulk decided to just take a break here in the middle of the goddamn woods in the dead of winter. At least this time his pants had stayed together, but besides those his bare skin was touching the snow. It was so cold it burned. His chest felt tighter with each breath he took. And he could feel his whole body spasm with shivers.

If the team didn’t find him soon odds were the Other Guy would be making a second appearance today…

Just as he forced himself to sit up though, grumbling the whole time, he could hear his earpiece come back on.

“Jolly green? How you doing buddy?”

Despite hating his current circumstances, Bruce was relieved to hear Tony’s voice. As he went to respond though he struggled to speak through his chattering teeth. “Reverted completely. No complications. Personally though, I- I could be better. Kinda freezing.”

“I’ll be there soon.” Tony tried to keep a light attitude but Bruce could tell he was already worried. “Just try and keep warm.”

“Easy- that’s easy for you to say from your-from your heated suit.” Bruce managed to get out through his teeth.

“Eh, touché. You got me there buddy.” Tony said with a little chuckle. “Don’t worry though I’ll there in two- no make that around uh- a minute thirty?”

“Ok.” Bruce said with a sigh.

In all actuality that was a very small amount of time. But when you’re practically naked in the snow that extra minute and thirty seconds sounded like hell. He just needed to stop thinking so hard about it. Distract himself. Closing his eyes, Bruce took a few meditative breaths. He’d read about people who were able to maintain their body temperature in below-zero weather, he hoped if he was disciplined enough it could work for him as well.

Unfortunately Tony chose then to keep talking and his mic chimed back in.

“So… How’d your part of the mission go? Remember any pieces?”

Bruce wanted to groan and snap at Tony. He needed to concentrate. But then it dawned on him that Tony was only trying to help by talking. To distract him from the cold. Guilty, he quickly stopped himself and tried to humor Tony instead. “I can’t recall anything. Not yet at least. And I still don’t know why the Other Guy chose to revert so early this time.”

“Oh yeah, I was wondering about that. And why so far away from everything?”

 “You can ask him next time he makes an appearance. I think he’s done for the day.” That violent, green part of his mind had gone awfully quiet ever since Bruce woke up.

“Hey, maybe he hates the cold too!”

“Maybe… Or maybe he just likes making me miserable.” Bruce said as his body was wrecked with another wave of shivers. At least his body was shivering. Had he woken up with no reaction to the cold Bruce would have been more concerned. But as it was he just wanted to get out of this tundra wasteland.

He could hear Tony’s suit drawing closer and closer now. And when he saw bright red shine out from in-between the trees Bruce could have cried in relief. As Tony landed Bruce struggled to his feet, grimacing as his feet sank into the freezing snow.

“Hey there, Brucy-bear!” Tony called out in a sing-song voice. “How you holding up, buddy?”

Bruce didn’t give him a verbal answer, just a very grumpy look, as he walked through the snow. Each step felt like a sharpened icicle to the sole of his foot.

Tony could always read his face like a book though. He came right over to Bruce, scooping him up into his arms. He certainly enjoyed showing off the suit’s abilities. Especially when he wasn’t actually strong enough to do this yet without the suit. But Bruce could hardly pay that any mind as his body pressed up to the incredibly warm Iron Man. So warm it almost burned his skin but he couldmn't find it in himself to complain. He just grit his teeth until the burning-feeling died down.

“You alright? Come on big guy, stay with me!”

Moaning, Bruce looked back up. “I’m fine. Just get me out of here.” He was sick of talking and he was sick of this weather.

He only relaxed when he heard the suit’s boosters kick in and they slowly lifted off the ground. “Ok, ok, we’re leaving. We just got a short flight to the jet and then we’ll be out of the cold. Here we go!”

Bruce only grunted in reply and let Tony take them away. He had flown with the suit a few times before. A few times like this, being held, a few times in an Iron Suit of his own. But right now, flying through the frigid air was much less pleasant than any of those times. At least the suit was heated and provided a tiny buffer from the elements. And luckily Tony was right, their flight was short and after a few moments of painfully crisp, cold air Tony dropped back down to the ground right in front of the quintjet.

“Home again, home again!” Tony announced as the drop door opened and he carried them in. As soon as they were inside Bruce was slapped by a wave of heat. Normally it would have felt nice but at the moment it just stung his face and hands. However after getting adjusted it hardly felt like anything and Bruce went back to shivering. Tony frowned when he saw Bruce regress again, but set him down so he could stand and pushed him further into the jet. “Ok, lets get you in a hot shower!”

Even feeling frozen and exhausted, Bruce tried to shove his heels into the ground to stop Tony. “No! No- that’s the worst thing to do right now!”

“What, why?”

“If- if you go too fast from cold to hot, it’ll put your body in shock. You gotta be gradual.”

“Wait are you serious?”

Bruce sighed exasperatedly and brought a hand up to his face. Everything was so cold. “Oh my god Tony. How did- how do you survive on your own?”

“Easy, I don’t.” Tony replied, “Well then, how do we warm you up more gradually?”

“Thermal blankets. At least something that can help retain heat.”

“Got it! Anything else?”

Bruce tried to wreck his brain for anything else useful that they probably had access too. “Uh, heating pads or something? Like the kind you can put in the microwave. But not too hot or-”

“You’ll have the same problem like the showers?” Tony added. He brought them to the far-side of the jet near one of the air vents that was pumping out blissful heat. But between all the empty air and the chill trapped in his bones Bruce felt miserable and simply let himself be maneuvered until he was sitting down. “I’ll go change outta the suit and get everything. You’ll be alright here by yourself?”

Bruce hoped so, and simply nodded. “Should be.”

“Ok, I’ll be right back.”

Bruce though he would be fine. But as soon as Tony left it felt like all warmth had left the room. He curled his legs to his chest but nothing seemed to help at first. It was like his body had lost the ability to produce its own heat. A tiny part of him worried if this was a new consequence from the Hulk but the more rational side of Bruce’s mind reminded him that he had just been out in the snow for who knew how long. He needed to give his body time to adjust as uncomfortable as it was…

When Tony finally came back over, he carried a giant pile of blankets that almost blocked his face from view. And with no warning, proceeded to drop them all onto Bruce.

“Hey!”

“Sorry, thought it would help. You looked so miserable.” Tony apologized as he knelt down and proceeded to actually drape them on his shoulders and back. Bruce noticed it was a mix of thermal blankets he knew would be on board and a few normal blankets that he had no clue where Tony got them. But he didn’t complain as he readjusted them all so they stayed wrapped around his person. And he waited for his body to readjust.

“By the way, I microwaved a couple rice socks. But those things came out scalding so I’m giving it a couple minutes. Don’t want you getting hurt and all. Can you even get burned? Never mind, dumb question-”

In their time together Bruce had come to learn Tony could be a very chatty person. However it came out of habit. When he wanted to keep attention on something, or like now if he was nervous and wanted something to happen. Bruce let him talk, nodding a few times here and there, as he tried to rub some feeling back into his arms.

Bruce should be starting to warm up but he still felt so cold. No matter how many blankets he was engulfed in none of it seemed to be enough. That bone-chill still persisted. Maybe if he just gave it a little more time his body would start adjusting. But waiting like this just felt so unbearable. However it was then that another idea suddenly came to his mind…

“Alrighty then! If you don’t need anything else I’ll just head up to the cockpit and get in touch with everyone, let them know where we are.” Tony said with a clap before rising back to his feet and turning to leave.

“Wait!” Bruce called out, reaching one arm out of his cocoon to grab Tony’s arm. When the other man looked down at him he couldn’t help but feel just a little sheepish with his last request. It wasn’t like it was anything new, they had done this plenty of times before. But Tony and Bruce had yet to be so open about their relationship in somewhere like the quinjet. Usually the pair tried to stay strictly professional in front of the other Avengers. At least Bruce had tried. But right now he was so cold he could hardly care about image or professionalism.

“They also say direct skin to skin contact can help a victim stabilize.”

Tony gazed down at him questioningly, and then he smirked and pulled off his shirt. “Is that _really_ a thing?”

“Yes, I swear I have no ulterior motives here.”

“Alright, whatever you say.” Tony said, pulling back the blankets slightly and crawling next to Bruce. “But if you just wanted snuggles all you had to do is ask.”

“Ugh, Tony!” Bruce groaned.

But Tony just laughed. He felt him move closer in from behind until they were touching, and when he felt two arms wrap around him Bruce couldn’t help but sigh in relief as Tony’s heat surrounded him. He felt at peace. He let his breathing slow to a deeper, steadier pace. His whole body sank into Tony’s arms and the blankets surrounding him. And he vaguely detected Tony’s lips going to press tiny kisses onto his neck.

Now that he was relaxed and still Bruce just felt all the events of that day catch up with him. The fight, the transformation, the almost-freezing. He kept zoning in and out while he and Tony waited. He didn’t even realize that everyone had come back on the ship until he felt the floor beneath him shake and the quinjet took off. He could hear a few voices lingering somewhere above him but he felt too tired to reply. Luckily Tony did for him, though he didn’t really pay attention to what he said. He just let his eyes stay shut until he drifted away entirely. The last thing he felt was the blissful heat surrounding him and the sound of Tony’s voice crooning to him softly.

And little by little that painfully cold that had seeped into him slowly faded away. Engulfed by heat.


	4. Fiction

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here’s my take on today’s theme “fiction”! This time Bruce and Tony try to actually talk about problems and not be so emotionally constipated lol
> 
> I gotta be honest though, I have no idea when this would take place chronologically. After Infinity Wars? In some alternate universe where Infinity Wars doesn’t exist? We may never know! Regardless I had fun with this and I hope you enjoy too!

Bruce and Tony we’re happy together. They got along really well, understood each other, and on the few occasions they did have a disagreement, both of them almost always managed to keep their temper in check and try to work things out.

Honestly the only major problem they seemed to have was with communication. Sure talking about things they enjoyed like science and engineering were easy, even small issues were manageable. But when it came to bigger problems they both had a bad habit of avoiding the subject and bottling everything up until it all seemed to reach a tipping point.

But they were trying to get better about things like that. One of the first steps was being honest.

So when Tony asked for Bruce’s opinion on the new “Huggable Hulk” dolls some second-rate company created, he was honest.

“That’s the most horrible thing I’ve ever seen.”

“Awww really?” Tony teased, bringing the plush-monstrosity closer to his face. “But he’s so cute, and he even talks!”

Bruce couldn’t stop as the Hulk was shoved into his face and yelled out a catch-phrase Bruce had never said before in his life. “I don’t care. It shouldn’t exist.”

“Boo, spoil-sport!”

“Tony, I’m serious.”

Almost like a switch Tony finally laid-off on the heckling. Setting the doll down and seeming a little more honest himself. “What’s the matter? I thought you’d find it funny.”

“I probably would have before… Then it would have just seemed ironic, right? That something so deadly was being marketed to kids. But it wouldn’t have hurt anyone.”

The worst part was Bruce was telling the truth. The quieter, but much more confident Bruce from before Ultron would have found this hilarious. He would have ordered a whole box in secret and had it mailed to Ross just to be spiteful. A way to give him the middle-finger, and anyone else who said he was just a mindless monster. But that was all back when he thought he finally knew what the Hulk was, what he wanted. Back when he thought he and the Other Guy were finally working together.

“Before? What do you mean before?” Tony asked being much gentler now.

“I don’t know, before Sakaar? Ultron even?” Bruce groaned and rubbed his hands across his face. He really didn’t like talking about it. The only people who really knew were Thor and Valkyrie. “I use to think I finally had a grip on the other guy you know? Next thing I know he’s been in control for two whole years, and now I can’t even get him to appear when we need him!”

For once Tony didn’t interrupt. He didn’t even respond immediately. He just gave Bruce a look questioning if he wanted to keep talking.

And despite it making him uncomfortable, Bruce wanted to keep going. Sometimes talking like this could feel like draining poison out of a wound.

“It wasn’t so bad when I thought I had control… People were finally starting to trust me. But I lost that control. The Other Guy’s been so unpredictable. Unstable even. You saw me out there. Hulk has all the fighting experience, not me, out there I was next to useless. If I hadn’t had an Iron Suit I would have just been a complete liability!”

Tony couldn’t stay quiet for long as Bruce kept dragging himself through the mud. “Ok, I have to disagree with you on that last statement. You are many things but you will never be a liability. Not to me, and not to anyone else on our team.”

“That’s a nice sentiment and all but that wasn’t how I felt.” Bruce picked up the doll again as he spoke, flipping it around in his hands as he spoke. Looking at its little face painted into a scowl. “It’s not just that though…”

“Well, what else is bothering you?” Tony asked, trying to capture that patient, calm, doctor-aura Bruce seemed to have whenever there roles were the other way around. When Tony was the one ranting to Bruce about his problems.

Bruce didn’t even know where to start. Sakaar had been a garbage fire of a mess, a train wreck on a boat. He still wasn’t fully sure how to feel about his experience on Sakaar with the Grandmaster and Valkyrie.

“I always knew Hulk was unhappy. That’s kinda his thing I guess. But this was different. I never thought he’d try to do something so drastic, when I couldn’t even stop him…” He could still recall that waking up with Thor in the quinjet and just knowing something was horribly wrong. And how little phantom memories and feeling had stuck to him. “I wasn’t gone completely in those two years. I could recall little bits and pieces. But the people there adored Hulk, they encouraged him to fight. To kill. To destroy everything in his path. And he just kept going and going. If Thor hadn’t come to Sakaar I honestly doubt I’d ever get home.”

Tony took the time to nod, encouraging him to continue. And Bruce felt a tiny spark of warmth in his chest, almost fueling him as he kept talking about his own screwed-up issues.

“It was so weird. Hulk was actually happy to be there! Doing something so awful, feeling unstoppable, untethered to any rules or laws. The Grandmaster set up a game that never ended and Hulk just lived for it. And despite killing so many innocent prisoners, the people there saw him as their ultimate champion.” Bruce spared the doll one last glance before tossing it back to Tony. “Ugh! I don’t even know why I’m so upset over all this! Worse things have happened to people who don’t deserve it. I don’t know why I’m feeling like this over some dumb toy, or a planet I’m never, _ever_ going back to.”

Tony gave him a thoughtful look. “I think I cracked the code, if you want to hear my thoughts.”

“By all means.” Bruce said with a sigh.

“As a man who is grossly underqualified to talk about this. I think you got an image problem here buddy. You don’t like how earth’s making Hulk all… huggable. But you don’t like how Sakaar made Hulk out to be this gladiator god-of-war either.”

“It feels like everyone has this fictional perception of the Hulk, and as an extension myself. But none of their images seem fitting, and if anything I think they’re unfair and can be dangerous. Then again I don’t even know who the Hulk really is.” Bruce found he agreed with Tony. He still wasn’t sure of any fitting solutions. But at least now after talking he was getting a better grasp on his own problems. “That was actually a good analysis, Tony.”

“Your welcome.” Tony said with a slight smile. More like an impulsive twitch of his lips then anything. “And hey you know what? I think I am qualified to help you with this!”

“How so?”

“Well who better to talk about public image with then this guy?” Tony said, pointing a thumb back at his chest. “I’ve been through it all. People have put me on pedals, dragged me through the mud, ostracized. You name it, some reporter somewhere’s probably said it about me.”

Bruce took a moment as it fully dawned on him. Honestly it made a lot of sense, how had he not seen that before? “Ok then, how do you deal with inaccurate imagery?”

Whatever confidence boost Tony had been feeling slightly deflated after that. “Honestly? There’s nothing you can do. People make their own assumptions. Make their own judgments. And trying to win people over just to give yourself a good public image is a waste of time. If people think you’re good, if people think your dangerous, crazy, that’s all up to them.”

“That's not really what I was hoping to hear, Tones...”

“Yeah sorry about that.” Tony shrugged, but decided to keep going. “What I end up doing, at the end of the day, you just have to work on yourself. I know things with you and the Other Guy still haven’t simmered down. Maybe you two should go to couples therapy or something”

Bruce tried, but he couldn’t help but chuckle at that. “Imagine me walking into some poor therapist’s office, alone.”

“You’re just arguing with yourself.”

That got Bruce to actually laugh. “I’ve done that a couple times already. He takes over half my face.”

“No way!”  Tony laughed.

“We screamed at each other, and then he sulked off to god-knows-where in my brain!”

The two of them kept laughing for a bit after that. They really did understand each other. And as they kept talking, eventually returning to easier subjects like genetics and robotics, Bruce couldn’t help but feel a little lighter. The world was still a mess, but little by little it was beginning to recover. And even if Bruce was a mess, he was trying to recover too. But no matter what, Bruce was grateful to know that no matter what happened, no matter what the Hulk did next, no matter what people said about him, he would always have Tony there in his corner.


	5. Gold

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 5 is already here! And let me just say, I love what everyone’s been doing so far this week! I’ve been seeing a lot of creative writing and art, and you can just tell everyone’s been having fun!
> 
> Anyways, hope you all enjoy my 5th prompt for “Gold”!

Despite what everyone usually assumed, Bruce could pull it together and go to more formal events. Sure he didn’t _like_ it in any way. But when push came to shove he could manage to put on a suit and make only-slightly-uncomfortable small talk for at least a few hours if he really needed to. After all, that was how he got funding for his research back in the day. The only difference now was that his social skills were even more lacking lately, and his anxiety and paranoia for crowded rooms had gotten worse.

Still, even when he did get nervous for these sorts of parties, he’d learned when he was younger that it was always easier to do with a partner and group than on his own. It was like bringing a life-jacket; even if he didn’t always need it, it was good to have someone he could rely on. Someone he could talk to when uncomfortable talks about society and politics with strangers got to be too much. When people themselves began to feel like too much.

Tonight shouldn’t be that bad though. Nerves aside, Bruce actually found himself excited to be here.

Bruce had actually been invited to a tonight’s banquet by the American Biochemist Association. Not the Avengers, not SHIELD, Just Dr. Bruce Banner. Apparently they had been impressed with his work and he was being awarded the Amadeus Cho medal of Integrity. He’d even been asked to give a speech near the end of the night on his experiences with nuclear biochemistry.

Bruce honestly wasn’t sure if he deserved such an award. After all, when it had happened the lab accident that created the Hulk had been a complete disaster. Even if he hadn’t created the Other Guy he doubted he’d have any respect left from the scientific community for his failure. But apparently, years after the fact, people saw his failed experiment differently. The Hulk’s existence alone opened a door to new questions about the human body, mutations, and their relationship to nuclear energy.

Bruce just hoped people’s questions about the Hulk or his personal life wouldn’t be too invasive. He’d already written his speech to go over the simple facts of his transformed anatomy at the cellular and nuclear level. Nothing more than that.

Fortunately, so far his night was going pleasantly enough. People had been well-mannered. And any questions about the Hulk were kept simple and surface-skimming.

That and the fact that he chose to stick with his old-rule for getting through any formal event.

He had been allowed to bring a plus-one to the banquet. And not even needing to think, he’d decided to invite his partner.

As he talked with a few doctors on their research with poisonous dart frogs, Bruce watched Tony from the corner of his eye as he took over the room effortlessly. Maybe if Bruce enjoyed big events like this more, he would have half the mind to be jealous of his partner’s social skill. As it stood though, Bruce just admired his partner.

The colored theme for tonight was turquoise and gold. And as Tony meandered through the room Bruce couldn’t help but think the man looked almost ethereal. While Bruce just put on a comfortable suit and tie, Tony made a whole afternoon of getting ready, clothes, face, hair, he had fun with all of it. And it clearly showed as he held a confident, yet easy-going, and relaxed air as he made his way around the room.

As he walked around bathed in a golden light and a smile that seemed just as bright, Bruce couldn’t help but wonder how the two of them ever got together. People from different worlds. Opposite ends of some kind of spectrum. Yet for how different they could be, Bruce truly believed they made each other happy. Tony may be a golden inferno sometimes, shining down and helping bring Bruce back into the light. But Bruce was someone more down-to-earth, keeping both himself and Tony grounded and supported. They balanced out one another. Encouraged one another to experiment and grow.

And when Tony caught him staring, giving him a smirk before spinning on his heels and kept walking, Bruce just was struck by how much he loved that man…

As the tables were re-set for desert and Bruce poured over his speech notes one last time Tony finally came back to his side.

“Having fun?”

Bruce gave him a warm smile before gnawing at his lip in worry. “I think I will be, once I get through this. I just have to avoid making a complete ass of myself on-stage.”

“You’ll do fine!” Tony said lightly. Reaching to hug him before messing with his hair. “You go up there with your hair all tousled like this and they’ll listen to anything you say. I know I will!”

Bruce gave him an annoyed grunt that wasn’t at all believable and quickly tried to put his hair back.

“Ok well even if you don’t care about winning them over with your looks, I think you’ve already won them over. I don’t know if you noticed but I think everyone here is a huge nerd. Got a lotta hulk fans in the room.”

“That’d be a first.” Bruce replied. Scanning over his opening notes one more time before tucking all his cards back into his pocket.

“Honestly? They already decided to give you the medal. You could say anything and they’d probably be happy…” Tony’s eyes lit up as he got an idea. “Hey, want me to come up?”

“What?”

“If you want I could come up too. I’d be like your sexy sidekick or something?”

Bruce almost snorted and shook his head. “Thanks but I don’t think I’m that nervous about public speaking.”

“Fine, suit yourself.” Tony sighed.

“Besides, wouldn’t that seem creepy? While I drone about rapid cell mutation, Tony Stark is just standing there all creepy and silent?”

“Hey it wouldn’t be creepy!” Tony said, teasing.

“A quiet Tony is never a good sign.” Bruce teased back.

“But more importantly, dude you never drone. Especially not about stuff you love. Cell growth and radiology and all the fun stuff. I’ve seen you talk about it and you’re never a boring sight.”

“You sure?”

“Positive.”

Just then, one of the Associates members walked over to the couple. “Dr. Banner are you ready?”

“As I’ll ever be.” Bruce replied lightly, doing his best to ignore the sinking feeling he got in his gut whenever he was about to do these kinds of things.

As he walked with the official, Tony tagged along until the got to the side of the stage.

“I’ll be rooting for you from the side lines! And afterwards we can go eat cake!”

“Thanks Tony, I’ll be looking forwards to that.”

Just as Bruce prepared to walk up the staircase to the podium, Tony leaned in close speaking in a hushed tone. “If people start giving weird questions during Q&A, I’ll intervene and change the subject.”

“Tony, you don’t have to.” Bruce began.

“But I will. If you want me to.”

Looking towards the audience, Bruce turned back and whispered. “If you could, I’d appreciate that.”

With that, Tony pecked him on the cheek and stepped back. “Ok, have fun up there! I know you’ll be golden!”

Stepping up onto the podium, Bruce suddenly realized that this was the first time he’d given a formal speech in years. Between being on the run from Ross, working with the Avengers, and everything else that happened, Bruce had been completely absent from the scientific community for over half a decade. But now here he was. Speaking to a crowd of hundreds, people who if Tony was correct already liked him and genuinely wanted to hear about his research. And just like that, it sunk in a little deeper what this Amadeus Cho medal meant from Bruce. From this point forwards his life could be changing, at least just his professional career as a scientist. It was a weird feeling to Bruce but not all that bad, thinking about how one aspect of his life he’d feared was over and dead might actually be beginning.

Looking around the room at so many excited faces, Bruce caught sight of Tony near one of the tables in the front. Relaxed as ever as he gave Bruce such a warm smile and a slight thumbs up.

Taking one final moment to breathe deeply, steadying his voice and grounding himself, Bruce began his speech.  Thanking everyone for their kind words and nomination for the medal of integrity, and then beginning to talk about a subject he was very passionate about.

And if he ever felt himself faltering, or when all those eyes felt like too much, he’d just look back to Tony. Bathed in golden light. Smiling at him. And Bruce knew everything would be ok…

Later that night, as the pair left the banquet, a golden medal hung from Bruce’s neck. Glinting as they passed under each streetlight. And Bruce couldn’t help but feel some pride swell in his chest. Things truly were changing. But for once maybe it would be a change for the better. Hand in hand with the man he loved, Bruce hoped they would find out together.


	6. Friday

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No, It feels like this fan week is already drawing to a close!!! (FYI, there’s always a grace-period after the fan-week for posting more stuff. But as far as officially scheduled days go, things are wrapping up soon!) I’ve been having a lot of fun with these! And I hope everyone’s been having an awesome week!
> 
> So without further ado, here’s day 6 “Friday”! (I tried to be funny with this starting out but at some point it got angsty lol)

There was no doubt that Bruce and Tony had fun working together. The made a good team. But at the same time when they got too excited and hyper-focused they could become their own worst enemies. They’d get so caught up in their work they’d lose track of time, forget to eat, forget to talk to people.  Of the two of them though, Bruce usually had a better handle on things like that and would be the one to put a hard-stop on their continuous work (if no one else came to intervene that is).

Today ended up being one of those days. They’d done nothing but code for a theoretical VR training program all morning and well into the afternoon, Bruce realized that they’d skipped breakfast and were about to miss lunch. Tony had been reluctant to move at first though, he even tried to claim coffee counted as a “heart-healthy” breakfast. But eventually he agreed he could take a break to go find something to eat. He let Tony finish the line he’d been working on, but once complete he dragged his partner out of his labs. Out of his tower entirely so they could walk through the city and get some fresh air and some fresh food.

They ended up finding a café near central park that over-looked one of the main entrances. Slightly crowded, but cozy. And with hot sandwiches at hand, they decided they could stay out just a little bit longer. The codes would still be there when they got back. And besides, central park at this time of year was a beautiful sight to take in.

It was early fall and there was a chill beginning to form in the air. Not enough to deter them from walking through the park, but just enough that the two walked just a little closer together. And all around them trees had transformed slowly to every shade of orange and red. The sidewalk they walked along was covered in leaves already and the new season had just barely begun.

However as they came to a clearing the atmosphere between the two men changed. As they looked out they saw a whole school’s worth of kids playing on one of hundreds of playgrounds in Central Park. It appeared like they had all gone on a field trip. Tony vaguely recalled hearing that NYC public schools decided to do free field trips on the last Friday of each quarter semester. Going to museums, theaters, parks. He thought maybe Pepper or Happy told him once.

Not wanting to be invasive to the kids and their teachers, they continued on their way. But even as they moved on it felt like a seed had been planted between them. Bruce saw the gentle smile that had come to Tony’s face. And Tony had seen the wistful look Bruce had as well.

Eventually as they sat down to finish their food Tony just couldn’t resist saying something.

“So… you ever think of having kids?”

Bruce paused and looked over at his partner questioning. “Sometimes, why do you ask?”

“No reason. You just had this look on your face. Earlier.”

“Yeah when I was younger I really wanted a family. But then, you know, it wouldn’t be the safest to have a kid when Ross wanted my head on a plate.” Bruce said with a sigh. “And now, it’s kinda too late.”

“What do you mean by that?” Tony pushed, not liking where Bruce was heading.

“Oh come on, Tony! You and I both know we’re over the hill at this point.”

“Speak for yourself! I plan on living to 120, I’m still working my way up the hill!” Tony snapped back with fake sass, though he did bring a hand subconsciously up to his greying hair. It’d been like that ever since he got blood poisoning from his first arc reactor. “Besides even if we were old farts, which I still say we aren’t, it’s not a big deal. People adopt or whatever at any age. There’s folks our age just starting to have kids! There isn’t really a time limit Bruce.”

“I don’t know. I guess it just feels like that for me.” Bruce said with a sigh. “My parents got married young, and everyone on my Mom’s side were having kids by their mid-twenties… Sometimes I wish I could go back, you know? Make things different.”

“I’d tell twenty-year-old Tony to stop being such a dumbass.” Tony replied with a smirk. “And to cut down on the drugs, you’re not impressing anyone.”

“Sometimes I wished I had started a family then… But then again, if I had and I still had my accident, there’s no knowing what might have happened to them. What the Other Guy might have done.”

“Hey, hey wait don’t be like that.” Tony chided, reaching over a tugging at Bruce’s arm. “I won’t let you think that. First of all, you and I both know there’s more to the Hulk than he lets on. He recognizes me, and everyone else on the team. You don’t think he’d recognize his own family?”

“There’s no knowing for sure, Tony.” Bruce said back with a deeper frown. “I mean, what happens I lose control again. If the Hulk went on a rampage and didn’t even realize my family was still in a building he destroyed?”

Tony shook his head and just held Bruce’s arm tighter. “You would never. Hulk would never. And you know what Bruce, you’d make a perfect dad! You’re kind, compassionate, you always know what to do, what to say to fix a problem. And you listen! Any kid would be lucky to have you as a father. You’d be amazing. Much better than me if we’re honest…”

“You really think I’d be a better parent? Better than you? You’d be an incredible father and we both know it.”

“Well, for starters I get so awkward around little kids. I feel like I don’t know how to connect with them.” Tony said, shrinking in on himself.

“That’s a blatant lie. I’ve seen you when you go to talk with kids at the hospital, or when you do PR stunts for the schools? Those kids adore you.” Bruce argued back.

Tony groaned and brought a hand up to his face. “But that’s all in public. I’m good at acting for people like that. Being what people want me to be. But what about some kid who lives with me 24/7? Who sees what I’m like behind closed doors?”

“Tony?” Bruce asked gently.

Tony didn’t say anything, but one of his knees kept jiggling and he was looking down at his hands with a frown. But when he finally spoke up, it broke Bruce’s heart. “I don’t know. I really like the idea of having kids too. In theory. But they terrify me. I guess I’m afraid of screwing them up? Like, what if I get mad one day and start screaming and throwing shit and scare the crap out of them?”

“I don’t think you’d do that, Tones.”

“Well, I’ve seen people act like that first-hand and it fucking sucks. Plus what happens if I drink too much and end up saying something awful to them?”

Bruce could agree with his first statement sadly, but he couldn’t support his second one. “Some people can be like that. But I don’t think you’re one of them. You hold yourself far more accountable. Besides, you’ve been cutting down your drinking. And in all our time together I have yet to see you spiral out of control like you claim.”

“But I could. I know I have a temper, and I’ve acted like that before. I get too mad and I say something stupid or I do something stupid. I’d never forgive myself if I threw another tantrum and someone else got hurt because of me! Especially someone I swore to love and protect and I-” Just as his words fully sank in, he saw Bruce’s entire demeanor change and desperately wanted to take them back. “Wait no! Shit! I’m so sorry, I- I didn’t mean it like that.”

“I know.”

“Still, god! That was- I just sounded like an asshole!”

“It’s alright, Tony.” Bruce said with a sigh. “I think we might have the same worries. Just in different contexts.”

“Yeah, no kidding…”

They ended up sitting in silent for a few moments. Simply letting the world move around them. The kids on their field trip all lined up to go back on the buses. A few kids trailed behind to stay near their parents who’d come as chaperones. Both men caught themselves watching the families leave, feeling sorry for themselves. And there was no denying the matching melancholic, longing looks they both shared.

Biting his inner-cheek, Bruce risked keeping their awkward conversation going. “And yet, for having the same problems, we both seem positive that the other would be fine as a parent.”

“Guess we’re quiet the conundrum, huh Banner?”

“I guess so… I still stand by what I said about you though.”

“Right back at ya.” Tony said. And after a few breathes he ended up smiling sadly as he shook his head. “Oh my goodness this is so dumb! Why are we so dumb?”

“I have no idea. Best guess is it’s something wired wrong in our brains.” Bruce answered. “Then again, raising kids is a big decision to make. We should probably be 100% committed before doing anything big like going to an adoption agency or something.”

“That is true…” Tony replied.

Around them more autumn leaves fell. And it may have just been his imagination but Tony swore he could feel the air around them grow a little colder. He tried not to think too much about it.

Instead, he clasped his hands and tried to rub some warmth into them. “Ok then! How’bout this? If someday soon we figure out our personal shit and get to 100%, and everything’s fine and nobody is trying to kill us, what do you think of adopting kids then? Starting a little nuclear-family of our own? In this entirely theoretical situation where everything’s ok...”

Bruce took a moment to think it over, and when he looked back at Tony he smiled weakly. “I think I’d like that. As long as it’s safe.”

“That sounds fair.” Tony agreed. And with that he got pushed himself off the bench with a flourish and offered his hand to Bruce. “In the meantime I think we have some codes that need finishing.”

“Better not keep them waiting any longer.” Bruce said, taking Tony’s hand and letting himself be pulled up.

Their hands remained clasped as they made their way back out of central park and towards their home. While the Friday afternoon traffic zoomed past on the streets and people hurried around them on the sidewalks. Still, they walked together huddled close like they could be a single unit.

Things weren’t perfect. They were still trying to figure themselves out. They both still had their fair-share of growing to do. But there was no denying they both shared a similar wish. Despite their own poor and nightmarish experiences, Tony and Bruce wanted to become good fathers. And they hoped someday they might be able to see that become a reality.


	7. Late

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my goodness it is kinda ironic that I’m actually posting the prompt “late” late. I swear it wasn’t on purpose, I just got a little behind on my writing. I decided to end this week with some good-ol-fashioned angst (with some comfort of course, I'm not a complete monster lol)! Cause you know what, Infinity Wars didn’t hurt enough already!
> 
> But with that it looks like Science Bros Week 2018 is coming to a close! I wanna say thank you to everyone for showing so much kindness and support to all my stories. And I also wanna give a shout-out to everyone who helped contribute to this fan-week and made it so awesome. I love you all and you’re great!

They had failed.

The entire Universe was in shock. Bruce couldn’t know that for certain but he could feel it. Like something had just go horribly wrong. Reality itself felt wrong.

And there was nothing he could possibly do about it. Not Bruce, not even Thor. All the former Avengers could do was watch in dismay as half of the humanity turned to dust. They had lost… And now the whole universe was suffering.

Bitterly Bruce wondered if they’d even had a chance at winning. Or if they’d only fought in some desperate, blind attempt for their lives. Like a prey animal writhing in the jaws of a predator before its neck was broken. A way to at least make it seem like they didn’t go down without a fight.

But fight or no fight, it was all over now, and there was no going back.

Bruce couldn’t see the change for the rest of the world, but he did see the ruin brought to Wakanda. He knew that after New York, years ago now, that another invasion on earth would be inevitable. But as he walked back into the city to regroup with the other survivors, seeing all the destruction brought to a place that had been so isolated for so long he regretted their team’s choice to fight Thanos’s forces here.

If only they had chosen to fight somewhere isolated like the middle of the ocean, or some lifeless tundra, maybe then no one country would have to face such impossible ruin… Then again that suggested that the people of earth had time before to prepare, which nobody had. Once Thanos had tracked Loki down with the migrating people of Asgard he’d been too fast and too powerful, even for the norse gods and the so-called incredible Hulk. And once he acquired more and more infinity stones he kept moving faster, no one had time to prepare for a disaster like that. It was impossible. This whole situation had felt so bitterly impossible.

Numbly, he heard Steve call for everyone to regroup and he followed him and the others into the city. As they approached he saw Okoye speak quietly to the princess and top-scientist in Wakanda, giving her the news of her brother’s sudden death as well as the deaths of half their people and the world. And when he saw Shuri break down into tears it broke his heart. When he walked past the two made eye contact for a brief moment, and shared a morose understanding. He considered trying to talk to her but decided against it. They’d only known one another for a few moments, enough for her to earn his eternal respect. But what on earth could he possibly say that could help? What could he possibly do to make things better? What could anyone do in such a dark hour? The only thing that made Bruce feel slightly better was seeing Okoye and her surviving forces come to the princess’s aid, to comfort and protect her. He knew she would be safe with them…

The talking Raccoon however was inconsolable. Thor was trying to talk-down the creature but it only seemed to make the situation worse.

“I just got him back!” He roared, face pulled back into a snarl when anyone got too close. Bruce could see tears forming in his eyes. “He’s already died, the fucking asshole! He was just starting to grow back! God-god dammit he was just a kid!”

“I’m sorry for your loss. We’ve all lost people important to us today.” Steve said, his tone was tired but there was still a sincere feeling.

“Because of you! You people acted like you had a plan! But when he got here you all ran around like fucking headless chickens!” Rocket snarled back, teeth bared at the end of his statement. “… Jesus, I don’t even know why I let my hopes get up! A bunch of idiot terrans with shit-for-brains!”

“Alright that’s enough!” Steve snapped, raising his voice. And for once Rocket stopped talked and looked up at the human wide-eyed. “I know you’re upset, but this isn’t over yet! If there’s the slightest chance we can reverse whatever just happened you can bet your ass we’re gonna do it! Thanos might have disappeared but this battle isn’t over! Not Like this! Not on my watch!”

Not for the first time in his life Bruce found himself once again grateful for Steve’s strength. Being able to stand in the face of ruin and act like a true leader. And even if he didn’t believe Steve’s completely, his words and passion for justice gave him a shred of hope.

“So where are your other Guardians?”

Rocket took a moment to stop and think. “Titan? They said that was his base.”

“And do you know if three humans were with them? Tony Stark, Peter Parker and Steven Strange?”

“Fuck if I know! Maybe?”

“It seems like something Tony would do. Trying to get forces organized to go after our enemies at their source…” Steve said quietly before moving to address everyone else.

“Ok, you two can go to find your friends but everyone else stay here! We need time to recover and figure out just how extensive Thanos’s damage is.”

It sounded fair. Reasonable. They couldn’t risk sending too many people to a hostile environment when they were already diminished. And out of anyone in their ranks now, Rocket and Thor would be most familiar with the rest of the Guardians. And yet for all the reason Bruce’s mind kept screaming that it was wrong. If there was even a chance Tony was still alive Bruce couldn’t just sit here doing nothing. He couldn’t leave him behind! Not again!

“I’m coming too.” Everyone seemed surprised that he’d finally spoken. Bruce tried to stand his ground though as Steve and Natasha looked at him questioningly.

“You sure Banner?”

Trying hard not to look at either of them as he passed, he walked over next to Rocket and Thor.

“I- I have to, I have to see if Tony-” He couldn’t say it without fear gripping his heart.

Steve looked a little awkward but made no move to stop him. “Um, Ok. You three go find any surviving forces on Titan. And come back as soon as possible, we need to discuss our next move.”

“We will.” Thor answered solemnly before raising his battle-axe. And with that they were gone.

With a brilliant flashing light Wakanda faded away. All around them a rainbow of color burned until it all seemed white. Bruce had a phantom memory of seeing the inside of the Bifrost before but could hardly care at the moment. All that mattered was finding Tony, alive, and bringing him home. He had to find Tony. He just had to be alive. The whole time they traveled, Bruce kept praying the words over and over.

Please, let Tony be alive.

When the light disappeared and they touch solid ground they appeared on a red, dead, silent planet. Titan…

“Peter! Peter you better be here, I swear to god!” Rocket shouted, immediately making a run for it. “Quill?”

When no one responded, the pit that had formed in Bruce’s guts kept twisting.

“Quill? Come on Quill! Mantis?! Drax?! You fucking assholes better get out here right now-”

Bruce could hear Rocket continue yelling, he could even hear Thor’s voice eventually join in too, but they all seemed to be underwater and warped as the three began running. It seemed as if the entire planet had been completely abandoned. The colossal ships and machinery had been wrecked and left to rust. And this world just felt too quiet... And no matter how loudly Rocket yelled nobody seemed to be answering him…

A single, traitorous thought entered Bruce’s head and he couldn’t find the strength to stop it.

There was a 50/50 chance that once Thanos snapped his fingers Tony would still be alive…

And if he wasn’t here, that meant…

That meant Tony was gone.

 “Tony?” He found himself calling out, unsure. Oh god… If he died like the others, then he wouldn’t even have a body left to mourn. There would be nothing to show he had ever existed… “TONY!”

Tony couldn’t be gone. He couldn’t just disappear like that. He had to be here somewhere, if anyone could have found a way Tony would have. His eyes kept scanning over the terrain as they ran. He vaguely heard Thor yelling at him and Rocket but Bruce couldn’t care. Tony had to be here. His mind kept repeating it. Tony had to be here. Tony had to be here. If Tony wasn’t here he didn’t know what he’d do. Tony just had to be here, somewhere.

Then he saw it. There, just on the other side of a wrecked alien ship. There were two figures. One had blue skin that glinted with metal. They were waving and shouting at Rocket. The two began arguing furiously but Bruce couldn’t possibly realize what they were saying. Because as he got closer, he was able to see the second figure. They were hunched on the ground. Bruce recognized that jacket… That hair… Oh god, he knew that face!

“TONY!” Not even thinking twice, Bruce sprinted for the man and tackled him in a hug.

He couldn’t believe it. On a single coin-flip of odds. Not even counting the high stakes of the fight alone. Tony was still here. He was alive! He was right here in his arms. He could feel his hair tickling his face. Feel his hands gripping onto his arms almost painfully. Feel his chest rise and fall. It was not a trick, not an illusion. Tony was still alive. There were a thousand things he wanted to say and do all at once.

But every single word died on his lips when he finally heard Tony speak in a croaking voice.

“Oh my god I’m so sorry. We couldn’t stop him… I couldn’t stop him… And Peter-” His words choked off as his breathing turned into unbalanced pants. He was trying to talk but he just couldn’t get the air to his lungs. He was having a panic attack.

“Tony? Tony, listen to me. Just try to focus on your breathing you can do this.” Bruce said with seasoned patience.

But Tony just trembled in his arms. “No-No! I can’t! God dammit, I can’t do anything! I had him! He- He was right here in my arms!”

“Please Tony, just try to breath. Focus on what’s right here. Right now.”

In the past, Bruce had always been a calming presence for Tony. But right now nothing could possibly bring him any comfort.

Twisting in Bruce’s grasp, Tony struggled to turn and face him. “No! No, you don’t get it! He was right here! I- I swore I would protect him! I promised he would get home! I held him! Right here!”

All at once, everything fell into place and Bruce wanted to be sick.

Peter…

There were only two survivors left here on Titan that he knew of. The Blue woman and Tony. Anyone else with them was gone…

How could he have been so selfish and blind?

All this time he had been hoping and praying that Tony was still alive. And yet he hadn’t spared a single thought about the boy Tony had taken under his wing…

With that, tears finally began pricking his own eyes. Whatever inner-strength or shock that had been keeping him going since Wakanda sputtered out right there. And with no power left he broke down on Tony’s shoulder as they both mourned.

They had lost so much.

They had failed.

They had tried to save the day. Beat the odds like they always had before. But not this time…

This time, they were too late…

It was too late…

It was too late…

 

 

_“BANNER WAKE UP!”_

 

All at once Bruce felt himself snap up from his desk. A scream being swallowed into the back of his throat. As he looked wildly around the room, he realized he wasn’t on Titan. He knew the concrete floors and reinforced walls of his workshop. He knew the shining blue hard-light screen that illuminated his work bench, as well as the notebook full of sketches and ideas he still chose to write by hand. He knew the smell of sterile counter-tops mixed with engine oil and machine parts. He knew the song playing from a radio on his husband’s side of the workshop.

He wasn’t on Titan. He was home.

He hadn’t been on Titan for several years, Bruce thought as he got up out of his computer chair shakily. That dream had felt so realistic. An exact reenactment of the day that still haunted his memories…

_“HULK DON’T WANNA BE UP! BANNER BE UP! NO HULK!”_

With that, he felt that angry, green side of his mind quiet back down. It seemed like Bruce’s nightmare must have been stressful enough to trigger the Other Guy. Years ago that might have worried him, but nowadays he and the Hulk had a much better understanding of one another. They learned how to communicate, how to compromise. Now they were more of a unit then two battling personalities.

“Dr. Banner? Are you alright.” A small voice chirped from somewhere above his head.

“I’ll be ok, Friday. Thanks for the concern.”

“Ok… Sir is coming down from the kitchens and will be here shortly.”

Great, Bruce thought with a sigh as he politely thanked Friday again and tried to relax. He didn’t even remember falling asleep like that. One moment he was working on his data-analysis for the vibranium-cell experiment results, the next he was waking up from a nightmare.

Was that a sign he was getting old? Or maybe he was just pushing himself too hard with this research. Either way he realized he should probably start implementing a stricter sleep-schedule. For him and Tony now that he thought about it. Both of them had been dozing off in weird places like they were in their 30’s again.

Speaking of Tony as he watched him decent in a clear elevator, Bruce couldn’t help but be relieved by the sight. That nightmare had hit far too close to home and he could really use his husband right now.

He certainly looked very different from the Tony Stark in his dreams. That Tony had been middle-aged and struggling with anxiety and depression. But the man in front of him had silver hair and wrinkles set on his face too deeply to even attempt to hide, and Tony wore both with slight pride. Though he could sometimes still end up self-conscious of his age, even to this day. As for his metal heath, just looking at his eyes could tell you the leaps and bounds he had made throughout his life.

At the moment, his husband looked worried. He came over and pulled Bruce into a hug when he saw the haggard look on his husband’s face. “Hey there, you doing ok?”

“I am now…” Bruce said with a sigh and snuggled into his neck. “Had a bad dream.”

“You want to talk about it?”

Bruce just shook his head. “Maybe later. Right now I just want to take a break.”

“Ok.” Tony replied before letting go of everything but Bruce’s hand and tugged him towards the elevator. “Come on! I was just about to make some mid-night smoothies. They’re the perfect pick-me-up!”

“Thanks hun.” Bruce said with a small smile. But it slowly fell apart. “I... I don’t know what I’d do without you Tony.”

Tony turned to look back at him with a frown. “You sure you don’t want to talk about it? You seem kinda upset.”

Bruce wasn’t sure. Tony looked to at-ease right now. He really didn’t want to ruin that for his husband by bringing the past. Specifically something so horrible…

“I think I’ll be ok. You just worry about your smoothies.”

Tony seemed unsure but let Bruce be. “Alright, I will.”

As they rode up through the house, Tony looked out the clear elevator to see the ocean spread out before them. Years ago he and Tony had designed and built this house together on his old Malibu property. It was perfectly built, with Tony Stark and Bruce Banner’s minds and hearts reflected in every room. A true sanctuary. For both of them.

“Do you think Peter would pick up if I called?” Bruce mused as the elevator came to a silent stop on the first floor.

“Eh, it’s kinda late. Then again, the kid gets even less sleep than us so he’s probably up.”

Bruce couldn’t help but smile. Even when he was in his thirties, Peter Parker was still Tony’s kid.

“I think I’ll do that while you finish up whatever the hell your making.”

Tony spun around as he walked to the kitchen to look at Brcue with fake-offense. “Excuse you! My smoothies are the things of legends!”

“Just don’t put anything green in mine!” He said with a teasing smile as he grabbed his phone off the coffee table, right where he left it!

“You need the iron!” Tony called back from the kitchen. “And not just me!”

Bruce just scoffed as he walked out onto their balcony overlooking the Malibu bay. This balcony had been one of his requests, and he was still happy they’d gone with it. It provided a calming influence as he went to call Peter Parker.

He knew the kid would be alight, he just wanted to put his mind at ease.

Besides, it had been a month or so since they’d last talked, they could catch up. He knew Peter would be excited about his vibranium-cell experiment results. The more he thought about it, the more he decided he should probably call up Shuri next. It should be day-time in Wakanda and he knew she would be interested in his results as well.

As he waited for his call to go through to Peter he took a few meditative breaths to help calm himself. He still felt a little shaken up from his dream. But he knew everything would be alright. They had made it through the Infinity War. They had overcome that monstrous trial in their lives. They survived, they grew.

Things were better now.


End file.
